Author Archives: Albert

Speed or Reliability?

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Last Wednesday, Jeff Prince, a professor at Indiana University came to talk about the current difficulties involving the pricing of the internet and telecommunications. With technology becoming an integral part of life, service providers (such as Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Verizon, etc.) have changed their marketing tactics about selling internet. Professor Prince gave some much relatable examples, such as how much speed we think we need for our daily internet usage. For instance, if your primary workload on the internet involves watching videos, you would not need as much bandwidth, the amount of bits you can transfer in a second, as someone who streams live events. However, does the general public even understand what it means when providers say 10 Mbps, 20Mbps, or 150Mbps? And even if you get the top Mbps offering from your company, it does not mean that you will get the fastest internet speed. Professor Prince mentioned that the new focus is towards latency, which is the delay on the time data is transferred from servers and back to your computer. The higher the latency, the slower things load. However, much of this is not even marketed towards consumers. All companies do is market what people want to see, how much data can you transfer?

I thought that Professor Prince raised was very interesting since my parents approached me about upgrading the internet plan at home a few years ago. It seemed that despite the high bandwidth we had, our internet was still slow and it took me some digging around on speed tests and technology sites to learn that bandwidth is not the only thing that factors into your internet speed. With that in mind, the research that Professor Prince is involved in is trying to price internet speed. Since technology is ever-growing, how much are people willing to pay in order to get faster speeds? If you price the technology too high, you might not have consumers while if you price too low, you end up losing money. Interestingly enough, I do not have an expected price either. One tactic that the professor mentioned as being effective is to not let people come up with a price. You create different options of the plans and assign your own price and let the consumers decide if they want to take up that plan with that pricing. This way, researches will at least have a way of quantifying the value of internet speed and latency for consumers.

And at home, I have come to understand that bandwidth is not everything. Despite my parents falling victim to the service provider’s claims of “You’ll get 150Mbps with our plan!”, our 50Mbps plan is more than enough for the amount of usage we have at home. However, it was also nice to learn that bandwidth is not everything and it’s a sign to really research what you are buying before you set down your money. Overall, I really enjoyed this talk!

Fight For Your Dreams

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Last Friday, we watched Bread and Roses, a movie that depicted the lives of immigrant workers and the difficulties that they had to go through. Not only had the workers had to go through bad treatment at work, but they also had extremely low wages. Seeing this movie has made me a lot appreciative of my own personal experiences given the opportunities I have with higher education and at the same time made me realize how difficult it really is for people who do not have these chances.

In addition, it was kind of like revisiting all of the history that I’ve learned throughout the years. Sam, one of the protagonists in the movie, helped the social workers to create a movement in order to raise awareness and wages to the janitors. I think this summarizes a lot of what unfair workers have to go through. They’re often too unaware of the change that can happen and they assume that being treated without respect is the way to go because they do not have the education or advantage that everyone else has. They simply take what they have for face value. The movie is a good reminder in that it takes time to improve one’s environment and as long as people are willing to put in the effort and to take the risks, you will ultimately be recognized for your efforts.

Schizophrenia and The Nobel Prize

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A Beautiful Mind is, by far, one of my favorite movies to watch ever since I saw it during my AP Psychology class. I first watched the film when my class was covering mental illnesses such as personality disorders, bipolar disorders, and last, but not least schizophrenia. One of the symptoms of schizophrenia that made me so interested in the brain is the concept of hallucinations. And contrary to drug-induced hallucinations, these stay for life and are associated with negative experiences. These fabricated characters are there to increase the symptoms of anxiety, insecurity, and paranoia in the sufferer. Furthermore, unlike the film, people diagnosed with schizophrenia often hear voices that are constantly belittling them.

But what surprised me most about this movie was that, John Nash, a mathematician responsible for creating the Nash equilibrium that revolutionized economics as well as led to the development of game theory was able to ignore the negative influences in his life. The fact that he does not know what is reality and what is fantasy, but nonetheless is able to overcome these difficulties show that determination can bring you anywhere you want. Even with a mental illness, he was able to win the Nobel Peace Prize. And while the movie is not a complete accurate depiction of Nash’s life, I certainly still enjoy watching Russel Crowe develop Nash’s character from a sane student, to a paranoid mathematician, to a Noble Prize winning professor.

Building A Better Community

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Contrary to the regularly scheduled cafes, this event was set up by Dean Hill to give and receive feedback from current Rose Scholars and what lies ahead for the future of the program. And this being my second year in the Rose Scholars program, I was here to witness the changes that Dean Hill and Professor Blalock decided to implement, such as the online sign-up sheet and capacity limit for certain events. At first, I didn’t quite like this change since I was always used to attending the Wednesday cafes to get my requirements done. I did it primarily because it took the least amount of time. However, since the online system was implemented, there were times that I had to attend different Rose Scholars events. One that I have come to particularly enjoy is the Friday movie nights. Even though they are a bit longer, I realize that I enjoy watching a movie that pertains to different cultures or studies and have been attending them since.

Likewise, a few of the Rose Scholars voiced their concerns about the capacity limits. I took it as a net positive since this creates an incentive for people to participate in the community. If you want a slot, then you have to be active and sign up for it early instead of just dropping in and treating it like a requirement. In addition, I think some other scholars raised wonderful points about the programming of the Scholars program. Every week, there are time scheduled events and we can expect them to be the same. However, since everyone’s time commitments are different, it would certainly be delightful to see events being shuffled around the days of the week while preserving the time slot.

And lastly, I really feel that the Rose Scholars program could contribute more to socializing people within Rose House. Most of the participants either come in groups or attend for the sake of the requirement. I believe that if there were events that have the sole purpose of letting other house members meet each other, it could foster better interest in the community offerings. All in all, I think this was a great talk and I’m glad to see the effort that is being put in for the development of the program.

The Transatlantic Series

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Last Wednesday, Paul Willcox, president of the Transatlantic Organization came to gave a talk about the track and field legacy that exists among the Ivy League universities, Cambridge University, and Oxford University. And having a passion for sports, I think it was a great talk overall. I remember used to having watched documentaries about my favorite players in basketball and the feats they achieved, and much of my enjoyment was reflected in Mr. Willcox’s presentation about the history and the players that dominated the game. But beyond the joys of hosting the games, Mr. Willcox denoted the taxing schedules their athletes have at hand. Right after the games, these students have to go back to London to take their exams and this talk has made me more appreciative of the effort that athletes put into their work. Not only do they have to balance training and competing, but they also have to balance their studies. After all, they are students just like us.

Though I really wished we could have talked to some of the students that attended Cambridge or Oxford. I personally have seen them in the dining halls, but have not had the opportunity to talk to them. I think it would have been a great way to learn more about other cultures and what life is like in London! A fellow Rose Scholar did also bring this up and I’m glad that plans may potentially be made in the coming years for us to mingle with the athletes.

But beyond the sports gatherings, I also learned about subtle cultural details that separate the US and the UK. For instance, Assistant Dean Hill told us that it was frowned upon when universities asked alumni to donate money as means of showing gratitude. Here, in the US, on the other hand, school organizations frequently send out mail asking for alumni to give back for future development of the school. In fact, even my middle school and high school send e-mails once in a while telling me to participate in alumni affairs, one of which is to give back to the community. All in all, Mr. Willcox gave an insightful talk about track and field development over the years while keeping things engaging.

Life in Brazil

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Last Wednesday, Andre Simores, a professor at Mato Grosso do Sul State University, came to give a brief talk about his life and experiences in Brazil. He specifically targeted points of interests such as the famed Rio de Janeiro and spoke about the local landscapes and cultures of cities of Brazil that he has visited in the past. Since most of my exposure with Brazil comes from the Olympics, it was eye-opening to listen to different experiences of someone who has been there for most of their life.

The first difference that Professor Simores pointed about between Brazil and Ithaca is certainly the weather. Since Brazil is near the equator it barely gets cold there while we recently had a snow storm that gave us a cozy snow day. But besides the expected weather difference, I was surprised when Professor Simores pointed out a cultural difference. In Brazil, people typically eat a dinner-type of meal (rice, beans, meats, etc.) during lunch time while resorting to breads, milks, and cheeses for dinners. He had said that he did not expect there to be a full course meal for dinner and I thought this was interesting since I would certainly be hungry if I only ate breads and cheeses for dinner.

In addition, beyond listing some small cultural differences, Professor Simores introduced to us a lot of the different landscapes that decorate the land of Brazil. For instance, there’s the Amazon Rainforest, which is a popular for tourists and researchers since there are vast number of species and organisms that inhabit the woods. There’s also the Pantanal, which is the world’s largest tropical wetland area. In fact, this destination has been here for so long that the horses here have evolved to the point where they can navigate through the wetlands easily!

But besides talking about the points of interests in Brazil, Professor Simores also talked about the education system in Brazil. And much like how tutoring is in the United States, people who have the resources to get an early advantage (which, in Brazil, is done through private high schools) are typically the ones to go to better universities. This is certainly a problem that is plaguing Brazil since there’s a definite line between the rich and the poor. Professor Simores attributes this to a lot of government corruption. And while he thinks that it’s going to take some time to fix, Brazil is certainly moving forward and starting to rebuild their economy for a better future.

Two Men Enter; One Man Leaves

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On Friday, we watched Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and since this is the first time I have watched any of the Mad Max films, I did not have much to work with in terms of expectations. While much of the plot was a bit confusing to me in the beginning, a quote that stood out to me was during the fight between Mad Max and Blaster, the giant that was being controlled by a man named Master. The fight was in a dome/nest like enclosure with the rules being “Two men enter, one man leaves.”. In the context of the fight, I didn’t think that this quote meant much. In fact, it was to be taken literally since it would be an all-out fight where one man would kill the other.

However, I did feel that this quote played back to the end of the movie when Mad Max sacrifices himself to let all the children and Master leave on the plane. It seems that Mad Max “entered” the mission to save the children since the children were seeking to return to a civilized world. And in order for them to leave, Mad Max had to be the one who was left behind in order for the others to survive.

What I did not get, however, was why Mad Max would even risk his life for the others. Once he comes upon the children that have been hiding and waiting for a captain to bring them to salvation, Mad Max immediately denies that he’s their savior. Instead, he claims that he is just a regular man that happened to pass by. But his actions say otherwise. This led to me to think that Mad Max was the indirect meaning of his quote. When he sees that the children are in danger, he puts himself out there to save them and in doing so risks his own life.

All in all, I think that the movie was okay. I was not particularly interested in the plot itself since it was a bit confusing for me to jump straight into the third movie of the series. However, I am certainly interesting in checked out the previous installments to see what they hold.

Hard Work or Talent?

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For last week’s movie screening, we watched Gattica, a movie about a man and his ambition to go to space despite his losing edge in the gene pool. The workers of Gattica only consist of people with near perfect genes, meaning that they were not prone to diseases, had good physical attributes, long lives, etc,. However, a man by the name of Vincent, whose parents decided not to give him the edge of bioengineering, lives the life of a ‘normal’ person by letting chance decide the makeup of his genes. And it is precisely this that bars him from achieving this goal to fly to space.

I thought that this was interesting how society progressed to a point where people needed to have superior genes to be eligible for a job like that. In addition, I think this movie shows how the power and influence of one’s work ethic, along with motivation is enough to offset the competitive edge that other people have. The fact that no one ever knew that Vincent had inferior genes since he lived under the life of Jerome proved that it wasn’t Vincent’s genes that stopped him from achieving his goals, but it was the standards that society wanted to preserve. I also found this movie to be a bit more emotional and sad that I expected it to. Jerome’s sacrifice at the end of the movie when he cremated himself in the very chamber that Vincent would go to to rid himself of his inferior genes stood out a lot to me. Despite not being able to achieve his own goals, Jerome let someone else use his identity to help achieve their goals. I definitely felt bad for Jerome, but I think this movie shows that natural born talent isn’t the only thing that makes someone successful. It’s the hard work and effort that counts.

Turfs and Drugs

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Last week, GRF Tyler hosted the movie City of God, which depicted the life of two individuals in the same poor neighborhood. One of them became a photographer, while the other became the drug lord. I was pleasantly surprised with how the directors played with the power dynamics involved with drugs. For instance, at one point the main antagonist, Lil’Z, ensured the safety of the local residents by keeping raiders off the streets with his display of violence and cruelness. More interestingly, he achieved this kind of fame through drugs and by doing something “good” for his neighborhood, something that I certainly wouldn’t associate with a drug dealer.

But at the same time, I think the movie reveals a lot of the darker themes in life, especially in poor countries. From the beginning, the police force in their neighborhood didn’t prove to be of much help and many people would often be intimidated into helping the people who have committed crimes. In addition, there was lots of thefts, innocent deaths, and rape, things that plague poorer countries without proper law enforcement. One thing I found surprising was the scene when Lil’Z forced a child to kill another child in order for the latter to prove his commitment and bravery into joining the gang. His psychotic behavior certainly fit his role as the gang leader.

Overall, this movie was a bit too bloody for me, I didn’t really expect to see children killing other children, or children wielding guns for that matter. However, I feel that it depicts a lot of the structure that goes on in these areas run by drug dealers. While the drugs are bad, it seems that during times where there is a prominent leader, people benefitted from the “crime” control as opposed to what local law enforcement could do.

The Power of Artificial Intelligence

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Last week, we watched The Matrix, a movie that talked about a simulated world for humans as their physical bodies were harvested for their body heat. Considered as science fiction, it showcased the advancement of artificial intelligence, which eventually overpowered the humans. And while the point of the movie is to address life in a simulated world, I have more interest in the technical side of things, specifically the artificial intelligence.

Having studied computer science myself, I always hear about advancements in the AI field, whether it’s AlphaGo beating a world champion at the game Go, the development of self-driving cars, or technologies that learn to recognize animals in an image. And in the movie, a character named Mr. Smith is a program designed to remove defective programs as well as maintain the stability of the matrix. However, after being eliminated by the main character, Mr. Smith becomes a virus and ends up wanting to challenge the matrix itself. I think that this was an interesting point because scientists like Stephen Hawking have expressed concerns about AI eventually becoming smarter than humans and possibly taking over. Could developed AI potentially take a turn for the worse and be like Mr. Smith?

And coupled with the uprising of virtual reality, which helps simulate digital environments through a combination of hardware and software, are humans not becoming capable of building their own matrix? With these new technologies, I think it’s clear that we’re not living in a virtual world, but this movie has certainly served as a gateway for many people to relate to on a daily basis. Since life seems so normal, is everything being simulated? Would we ever know? Who would be the first to find out?

I find it interesting that years ago, no-one would have thought that humans could be this close to creating virtual worlds like the matrix. And while I personally don’t believe that we’re living in a matrix, this movie has certainly left me entertained from the start.

A Divided Religion

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The short film “They Call Me Muslim” sought to shed light on a garment called the hijab, which are worn by Muslim women as a way to demonstrate devotion to their religion. And while it seems like the choice to wear the hijab or not should be defined by the religion, rules in Iran and France say otherwise.

The first half of the documentary talked about a college student in France and how, during her younger years, she was prohibited from wearing the hijab because France had wanted to ban religious symbols from public schools. Like many of the other scholars present at the discussion as well as the girl being interviewed in the documentary, I felt that there was a hint of discrimination towards the Muslim religion despite France trying to make it seem like it’s a universal policy. The show mentioned that people were allowed to wear religious crosses while the Muslims couldn’t wear their hijab. Is wearing the Christian cross not a religious symbol? But while these issues arise in France’s public schools, it seems that on the private or university level, these problems do not exists. And for this girl, wearing the hijab was a symbol of her dedication to her beliefs.

The latter half of the documentary revolved around a woman who lived in Iran. And contrary to France, Iran required that all women wear their hijab at all times. Interestingly enough, the woman felt that wearing the hijab did not show her dedication to the religion, but rather she did it because she had to follow the rules. She described of an instance wear the Iranian police force had arrested her because they saw that she wasn’t wearing a hijab. A few scholars, including myself, thought that it was interesting when she described that “after a few days, everything was okay”. It was as if something occurred behind the scenes, but she couldn’t say anything about it.

Overall, it was interesting to watch a film about two very opposing opinions about the same religion. On one hand, you have individuals who willingly follow the customs of the religion when they are oppressed, yet you also have individuals who refuse to follow the customs when forced to wear it. It seems as if the enforcement to do one or the other is causing more and more people to take a stand for themselves and an argument can be made for either side.